Single-crystal synthesis and structure refinement of La2Li0.5Al0.5O4 with K2NiF4-type structure

AbstractSingle crystals of lanthanum lithium aluminum oxide, La2Li0.5Al0.5O4, were synthesized for the first time by a flux method at 773K. The La2Li0.5Al0.5O4 single crystal is colorless, has an average size of 60μm with a square platelet shape, and crystallizes in the tetragonal K2NiF4-type structure, space group I4/mmm with a=3.7742(9)Å, c=12.753(4)Å, V=181.66(10)Å3, and Z=2. The structure was determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data and refined to the conventional values R=1.25% and wR=1.28% for 524 observed reflections. The octahedral site was randomly occupied by Li and Al atoms. The corresponding polycrystalline sample was also prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction method at 1123K